


A First for Everything

by TrueBlueSonic



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Celebrations, Fluff, Silver has no idea when his birthday is, Sonic and Silver bond a little in this one, and got quite long, birthday fic, everyone adores Silver and is happy and wants him to be happy too, i hope you enjoy!, luckily his friends have The Plans, or WHAT a birthday is, so much fluff omg, someone help this child, this is 100 percent birthday indulgence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27555277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrueBlueSonic/pseuds/TrueBlueSonic
Summary: “Hey Silv, when’s your birthday?”“…I don’t know. Why are you asking?”“It’s been almost a year since we first met you, and in that time you’ve never brought up the subject. We would like to celebrate with you, if that’s okay.”Learning that Silver has never had a birthday before, Sonic and his friends set up an elaborate plan to celebrate with the psychic. This is 100% fluff and cuteness, written for Silver’s anniversary on November 14th!
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	A First for Everything

“Hey Silv, when’s your birthday?”

Silver blinked his eyes open, looking at the unexpected appearance of the Blue Blur before him. With Eggman’s latest ploy stopped just days before, his friends had taken to lounging and goofing around, but not him. Not daring to give himself any respite, he had immediately moved on to hunting down whatever else could threaten the future. However, he instantly hit a dead end, having no idea where the madman had gone off to or what he was plotting. After a few days of running around in circles, he had frustratedly sat down under a tree near the city where the Restoration HQ was located, in hopes of getting some alone time so he could clear his mind… which was now brusquely interrupted by Sonic, who had plopped down next to him.

“…I don’t know,” Silver retorted, nose wrinkling. He really didn’t, in the future where he had grown up there had been no calendar or any knowledge on the progression of days. Now that he thought about it, how old was he? It wasn’t the first time anyone asked him that particular question, but he had no idea. Well, such information didn’t matter much to him anyway. He didn’t need to know his age to fight for the future. Unfortunately the answer was not enough to deter the speedster, who was looking at him frowning. “Why are you asking?”

Sonic gazed at the cloudy sky, taking a few seconds to respond. “It’s been almost a year since we first met you,” he mused. “In that time you’ve never brought up the subject. We would like to celebrate with you, if that’s okay.” So that was it. Silver knew how to celebrate birthdays, he had attended Sonic’s party, but he didn’t really see the appeal. People got a little bit older every day, did they not? It seemed quite useless to pick only a single day to celebrate, to act as if they aged by lots on that one day only instead of a tiny bit every day throughout their life. But he knew that people tended to react defensively when he voiced his thoughts on their odd customs and behaviours, so he kept this particular idea for himself.

“You don’t have to, really,” he said instead, hoping Sonic would just drop the subject and leave. He didn’t even know how long a year _was_ , he was barely able to wrap his head around days and nights and weeks and months and all the names that were bound to them. The conversation started to make him antsy. The thought that he would never grasp the knowledge that was so prevalent in the past made him feel inferior.

Sonic glanced at him. “If you don’t know the exact date of your birthday, you can pick any day you like,” he assured Silver. That didn’t necessarily make the psychic feel better, having no idea which day today was or which days would come by in the near future. As such he just kept quiet, staring up at the sky as well. Sonic waited for him to respond, but when nothing came, he got up and brushed his legs off. “Well, just think about it. We’d really like to throw you a party.”

As Sonic got ready to run away from where they had been talking, Silver frowned. He had disappointed the blue hedgehog, he just knew. There was probably no harm in just picking a day to please Sonic now, and then never bringing it up again. “…Wait,” he called out to the Blue Blur. Sonic whipped around to look at him, a complacent look in his eyes. Silver grasped his upper arm with his other hand and looked away. “You said that it had been almost a year since I came here. Can that day be my birthday, then?”

Sonic chuckled, zipping back to ruffle Silver’s spines, to the recipient’s great disdain. “Of course, Silv.” And then, he was gone. Silver stared at the blue streak that disappeared on the horizon, heart heavy with desolation. 

\-----

“Friends,” Sonic began his dramatic speech, standing on the table with his arms lifted up above his head in a wide gesture. “I have gathered you here today because I need to discuss a… no, _the_ most important conundrum with you.”

Amy and Tails were clearly not impressed with his theatrics, Amy giggling and Tails rolling his eyes at him. “Drop the act and just say what’s up,” the genius teased. Sonic stuck out his tongue, dropping his arms to his side and jumping down to sit down on a chair as his companions had done. After his conversation with Silver, he decided he would need some help, and what better help to get than from his two most trusted friends? They’d offer him good advice for sure.

“I was talking with Silver just now,” he explained, “and I asked him when his birthday was. He had no idea!” To punctuate the severity of the situation he let the chair lean back dramatically, swinging his legs into the air and waving his arms around for extra flavour.

Tails nodded as he listened to Sonic’s statement, pointedly ignoring the limbs that were flailing in front of his face. “That makes sense, I’m pretty sure there was no clear knowledge on dates or time where he’s from,” he mused. “There’s quite a few things we consider entirely normal that Silver just has no idea of.”

Tails had been teaching Silver to read and do basic maths, Sonic knew. The fox cub always made sure to praise the time traveler extensively, but even though Silver had made extensive progress in a remarkably short time, he seemed determined to sell himself short. Tails had discussed his worries with Sonic often, but neither really knew what to do about it. They hoped that with enough positive encouragement and experiences the psychic would be less hard on himself, but they had had little luck so far. Sonic had wanted to throw him a party to make him feel better, to assure him he was appreciated and that they thought about him, but now he feared that it had only made Silver feel worse. He sighed.

“I wanted to throw him an epic birthday bash, but he seemed… unenthused.” If Silver had attempted to hide his apprehension he had done a terrible job, and Sonic had seen right through him. It only made him more determined to throw Silver the best party ever, if it meant he could give the other some happiness. “He didn’t know the actual date, so he picked the day where we met him.”

“That’s November 14th,” Tails stated. Sonic didn’t question how he knew that, having learned long ago Tails had remarkable memory for some occasions. “It’s October 5th now. We still have more than a month to prepare a party and get him some presents.”

Sonic beamed. “That’s more than enough time, then!” But at Amy’s pensive look he faltered.

“With another plan foiled, Silver will probably be going back to the future soon, though.” Amy’s frown deepened. Sonic knew how close Amy and Silver had become, forming a friendship built on mutual trust and respect in the months he couldn’t be there for them. If anyone wanted him to stay and have fun, it would be her. “We can’t celebrate if he’s not here! We need to find a way to keep him in our own timeline.”

That would indeed be a problem, Sonic realised. Silver had an unwavering drive to protect his timeline by any means necessary, passion flowing out of every action he took to reach his goal. It was certainly commendable, but also tended to put him in a cinch. He often refused to take into account both his own wants and needs and those of his friends, if it meant he could undo the horrors that seemed to inevitably plague the future. If they asked him to remain in the past without giving a good reason, he would decline for sure.

Mulling over how to best make Silver stay, Sonic stared at the large blue screen that covered a wall in their meeting room. Some places had been marked red with an Eggman logo, others were flashing. At the sight of the map Sonic felt an idea brew in his mind. “I have a plan,” he grinned, getting full attention from his friends. Bending over the table and gesturing for them to do the same, he elaborated. “Here’s how we’re gonna do it…”

\-----

Silver sighed, tossing around in his bed. He had barely gotten any shuteye, and he felt like it. Yesterday’s meeting with Sonic refused to leave his head, no matter how hard he willed it to. He had hoped that he would feel better in the morning after getting a good night’s sleep, but no such luck. His incompetence at living in the past made his heart hurt.

In all the time he had known his friends (which apparently hadn’t been very long at all, even though it felt like forever already), they had asked him a _million_ questions. How old are you? How tall are you? What’s your favourite food? Favourite drink? Favourite colour? Favourite season? Shouldn’t you get a health check? Are you vaccinated? What clothes do you like? Can you read? Count? What are your hobbies? What’s the future like? As much as it pained him, he couldn’t give them an answer. More often than not he simply didn’t know what they were talking about, and he didn’t want to lie and make things even worse. And now, Sonic had asked him about his birthday, and all his fears about being second-rate due to his lack of knowledge had come back full force. Maybe it was time he said his goodbyes and went back to his own era.

Silver put his head under his pillow, groaning. To make matters even worse, it had steadily been getting colder for some reason, and he shivered under the thin blanket that covered him. His glance at the clock next to his bed told him it was 5:32, on October 6th. The date was meaningless to him, but from Amy’s explanation she had given him once he knew it was still very early. From the tiny window in his room no sunlight came in. Rolling over once again, he decided he might as well get up and try to make the most of this day. The lack of sleep made his limbs tremble as he made his way to the kitchen.

Pushing through the door, he noted in the back of his mind that Sonic was also there, despite the early hour. He was too tired to pay it any mind. Shambling like a zombie, he made his way over to the cupboards to see what they had for breakfast, almost missing the cheerful “Good morning!” Sonic sent his way. Mumbling something that could vaguely be recognised as a greeting in response, he grabbed the first cereal he came across and a bowl. Collapsing on one of the chairs around the table in the middle, he poured out some kernels for him to eat.

Nibbling on the cereal, he stared at a dirty spot on the table, which in his sleep-deprived mind looked oddly like the sole of a sneaker. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched, and after swallowing the third piece of grain he tiredly fixed his gaze on Sonic, who was indeed looking at him sympathetically. “Rough night?” the speedster asked, getting only a hum in response. Silver was simply too tired to think of a more decent response.

“I actually wanted to discuss something with you.” Underneath his exhaustion Silver felt irritation flare. Couldn’t Sonic see that he just didn’t feel up for it today?! Sending the Blue Blur an annoyed glance, he noticed that Sonic was looking surprisingly serious for a change. Instead of the normal cocky grin he usually sported his face was much more solemn. It piqued Silver’s interest the tiniest bit. What could be so important that even _Sonic_ took it seriously?

“…What’s up?”

Sonic leaned closer to him. “You’re searching for something that is going to destroy the world in the near future, right?” Silver hummed again and he continued. “I was talking with Amy and Tails yesterday, and they told me they detected some mysterious signals coming from multiple Eggman bases all across the continent. We don’t know what exactly it is, but we didn’t want to tell anyone else. With the war just finished and all his other plots it might cause a panic.” Nodding along, Silver went over what Sonic was telling him. Even though he didn’t like to withhold information from people, the core members of the Restoration were right; if knowledge came out that Eggman was plotting _something_ , whatever it was, it would result in global terror for sure. Especially since apparently they didn’t know what the dictator was up to in the first place. His irritation shifted from Sonic to Eggman, who was always so willing to destroy anyone and anything in his path, as long as he reached his goals. He gritted his teeth and flared up his quills.

Not commenting on his visible anger, Sonic elaborated on his story. “I offered to look into it myself, so things can continue as normal as possible. But honestly it’s a lot of work, even for someone as speedy as me.” He winked at Silver, who flattened his spines again and sighed. He would praise the gods and anyone else out there if they could make a day come by wherein Sonic _didn’t_ boast about being fast. However, Sonic’s next words caught him entirely by surprise. “I wanted to ask if you want to help me with this, Silv.”

Silver stared at Sonic, unexpectedly slack-jawed. Why would Sonic go to _him_ , out of all his friends? Surely the smarter Tails or the more insightful Chaotix would be a better pick! On the other hand, they all had their duties here, while he had been pardoned entirely to search for information. And Sonic did know that he was looking for causes that would bring the future to ruin, he had always been very clear about that. Maybe that’s why he was the one that got asked specifically?

Something else didn’t make sense though… Sonic very much preferred to do things alone, only fighting together with his all friends in huge battles against Eggman. Any other time where he cooperated with them was often a coincidence, except maybe with Tails, Amy, and Knuckles. Was the situation really _this_ dire? If that was the case, Silver would go along with no hesitation. Exhaustion entirely forgotten, he nodded resolutely. “Of course I do.”

\-----

The days passed by quickly. Sonic and Silver investigated multiple abandoned Eggman bases, finding only little information about what he was up to. Sonic’s story hadn’t been a lie in the slightest; Tails had indeed detected suspicious activity, and he and Amy had deemed it wise to investigate, just to be sure. Sonic knew that he could have easily done it by himself, but they needed Silver to stay. What better way to achieve that than play into the psychic’s burning desire to protect the world? He had a better time working together with the time traveler than he expected, though. Despite Silver’s iron resolve to get to the bottom of this, under Sonic’s influence he loosened up the tiniest bit. He seemed a bit more good-humoured now, and less tense. Sonic figured it depended a lot on how serious he himself treated the matter at hand, filing away the information in his mind for any future cooperations.

Spending days on end together with Silver also gave Sonic ample opportunity to find out what he liked. He stood under direct orders from Amy to find out what they could give him for his birthday. While they still operated from the HQ as their main hub, Sonic made sure to also plan multiple camping trips and long travel times in the wilderness, showing Silver the most beautiful views of nature one could ask for. Next to discussing Eggman ploys he could also pry for likes and dislikes without it being suspicious, proclaiming to Silver that he was merely curious or feeling chatty when asked about it. Fortunately Silver did not catch up on his seemingly-innocent questions, the answers to which were stored away in Sonic’s sharp memory to be sent back to HQ at any opportune moment. He probably had long forgotten the whole conversation they had had about his birthday, Sonic mused to himself.

So far Sonic had gathered that the time traveler like nature, especially plants and astrology. He also was interested in cooking with Amy, photography, reading, and arts and crafts. Sonic chuckled quietly to himself as he watched the sleeping form of the psychic next to him one night and typed out the descriptions into his Miles Electric for Tails to work with. With only a little time left, the preparations for Silver’s party were well underway, and he had been ordered to keep the psychic out of the HQ until the night of November 13th at the earliest. Having carefully planned the trip to this particular base and their investigation, they would arrive back at HQ at exactly that time. Sonic grinned at his ingenuity.

On this particular mission Silver had been running himself ragged, despite Sonic’s requests for him to take it easy. He presumed it was because the base they went to was among the last on their list, and so far they had found no useful information about Eggman in any of them. Sonic knew he’d be capable of defeating the mad scientists the moment he’d rear his head and start causing trouble, and as such he paid it little mind. However, the lack of information made Silver anxious and as such more aggressive, and his temper and exhaustion took a turn for the worst because of it. He had fallen asleep in his sleeping bag the moment Sonic set up camp, and was now snoring very softly. He looked a lot younger like that, Sonic mused as he looked the psychic over.

With a jolt the speedster suddenly remembered that they were unaware of Silver’s exact age. Both he and his friends had asked him about it multiple times, but they always got the depressing answer that the time traveler didn’t actually know. From his body size and height one could deduce that he was a teenager, but Sonic knew for sure that there was no way he was 15. On the other hand, anything below 13 seemed too young for him. Studying the features of the sleeping hedgehog in front of him, Sonic determined that 14 seemed like a good age. A bit younger and less mature than himself, but still capable and responsible. Yes, 14 fitted him just perfectly.

Sonic checked his Miles Electric, seeing how it said November 11th, 1:33 AM. Quickly typing out a final message for Tails to see in the morning, he went over the plan in his head. If they left around dawn and camped one more time they’d make it back in the later hours of November 13th, when most people had already gone to sleep and no-one could accidentally blab their surprise to Silver. It wouldn’t be weird if he made Silver go to bed at that time either, so he didn’t come across the party by himself. Stretching out his spines, Sonic turned off the gadget and laid down to go to sleep as well, dreaming of celebrations and good times.

\-----

Pushing Silver down into his bed, Sonic watched as the other collapsed, limp as a ragdoll. Sonic would have laughed, were it not for the fact that he could see that Silver was positively crashing with exhaustion. Clearly extensive use of his powers tired him out more than he would admit. Pulling away the blanket from underneath the time traveler and laying it on top of him, Sonic frowned as he ran a hand across its fibers. It was very thin, and with the weather getting steadily colder it would probably make for a very unpleasant, chilly sleeping experience.

“One second,” he murmured to Silver, although judging by the half-lidden sleepy look he got from the other he was quite sure the psychic was unable to make out the phrase anyway. He zipped out of the room into their linen closet on the other side of the base, grabbing a much thicker blanket from a pile. Back in Silver’s room in seconds, he placed the blanket over the one already present and tucked the psychic in firmly. “Goodnight, Silv,” he whispered as he ran a hand across the hedgehog’s quills, but the other had long drifted off already.

Tiptoeing out of the room, Sonic made his way to the kitchen. While tired himself, he could go for another hour or so; besides, he was hungry. Knocking quietly on the door he peeked around it, gaze bumping into Amy who was making extra preparations fort tomorrow. “Ah, Sonic!” She whirled around when she heard him, beaming brightly. “You’re just in time! I presume all went well?”

“It sure did,” Sonic responded as he stretched out lavishly, hungrily eyeing the contents of the kitchen. He already could see multiple cans and bowls of frosting and edible cake decorations, though Amy’s fiery glare and her threatening lifting of the wooden spoon she was holding made him think twice about stealing any. He went for an apple instead.

“Our birthday boy is snoozing in bed,” he told the pink hedgehog between bites. “He was utterly exhausted, I doubt we’ll see him tomorrow at some ungodly hour in the morning. He’s gonna wake up late for sure.” With Silver sleeping in, they’d have enough time to bake a cake and cupcakes and prepare the chili dogs. He aimed the core of the apple at the bin and whooped when it gracefully landed in there.

“Good,” Amy grinned as she vigorously stirred a bowl with light blue frosting. It did look _really_ tasty, Sonic thought to himself as he quickly set up a ploy. “The communication room is almost fully decorated, but you’ll have to put your present there yourself. And make sure to go to bed in time, you’re grumpy when you’re tired.”

“Yes mom,” Sonic teased as he zipped closer and dipped a finger in the bowl, getting a sizeable helping of the tasty stuff and dodging out of Amy’s range as she squealed and pulled the bowl away. It wasn’t a very nice combination with the apple, but it tasted good all the same. “See you tomorrow, Ames!” He laughed as he rushed out of the room, the sound of Amy’s scolding fading in the background as he ran to his own bedroom. Grabbing the packaged present from where it had been hidden in the closet, Sonic rapidly made his way to their hub and threw open the door.

As he studied the room from the entrance Sonic saw that it had already been extensively decorated, little plastic flags and banners covering almost every inch of the walls and hanging from the corners of the ceiling. Balloons were strewn around, more than enough party poppers had been provided, and in the middle of the table Sonic could see a nicely-sized pile of presents. He grinned as he placed his own gift there as well. This would be an amazing party for sure! Deciding to heed Amy’s words he walked out of the room again, switching off the light and zipping to his own bedroom once more. Curling up underneath the blanket, he was asleep in seconds.

\-----

Silver blinked the sleep from his eyes and he yawned and stretched. He had slept quite well for a change, to his surprise. The sun shone through the window brightly and he could hear birds sing. Noticing that he had been covered with a soft, thick blanket, Silver chuckled to himself. He probably slept in so much because it had been a lot warmer.

His clock next to him said it was November 14th, 9:24 o’ clock. While the date told him nothing still, he knew half past nine was quite a late time to wake up. Kicking the blankets off quickly and jumping out of bed, Silver stretched elaborately once more. Feeling somewhat hungry, he made his way out of his tiny bedroom and towards the kitchen, not really thinking about anything in particular. Before he could get far though, he ran into Sonic. The speedster zipped over to him the moment he saw him emerge, a wide grin on his face. Clearly something good had happened.

“Good morning!” Sonic greeted him cheerfully as always. Silver hummed in response, his ear flicking relaxedly. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did, actually.” And he had, much better than usual. He felt a lot calmed, his mind more at peace. He should probably ask if he could keep the second blanket, if only to get more shuteye. “I’m going to eat breakfast. Are you coming?”

“One moment.” At Sonic’s tone of voice and huge smirk Silver raised an eyebrow. What was it this time? Gesturing for him to follow, Sonic turned around and briskly walked away. He didn’t take the turn to the kitchen though, instead following some other corridor that Silver knew led to their communication hub. Deciding to humour the Blue Blur, Silver jogged after him. What was Sonic plotting?

When they arrived to where Silver suspected they would go he saw that the door to the hub was closed. Sonic stopped just in front of it. “Close your eyes,” he told Silver, that same grin not having left his face in the slightest.

“Um…” Silver awkwardly covered up his eyes with his gloves. “Like this?” Despite his good mood he didn’t really feel like playing any games, but Sonic appeared to be undeterred. “Perfect!” the speedster assured him as he grabbed his elbow, and Silver was forced to walk along as he heard the door slid open, without being able to see what was happening.

Getting guided into the room by Sonic, Silver thought he could hear some rustling noises and muffled giggles. At Sonic’s “Okay, open them!” he removed his hands from his face. Gasping, he took in the much more colourful appearance of the headquarters, and all the people that had been standing in there. “Surprise!” they all chanted in unison, followed by startingly loud popping noises and confetti flying through the air. Tails, Amy and Knuckles were located on one side of the table, with the Chaotix in the middle and Blaze and Cream on their other side. The table itself was filled with delicious-smelling food and packages. “Ooh, what’s this?!” he asked joyfully, once he recovered from the loud noise.

“Don’t you remember? Today’s your birthday!” Sonic told him cheerfully as he grasped Silver’s hand and took him further into the hub. Silver shook his head, he had no idea what Sonic was talking about. Although, now that the speedster brought it up he remembered that Sonic had interrogated him about it once. But that had been ages ago… had Sonic really remembered? He _had_ said that they wanted to throw him a party… Was this a birthday party? For him?

Standing in front of the table, Silver had no idea what to make of himself. He bashfully mumbled out a thanks as his body froze. What was he supposed to do now? What if he simply misunderstood the entire situation? This is why he hadn’t wanted them to do anything for him! Luckily Sonic caught up to his discomfort, giving his hand a squeeze and explaining what was going to happen. “Usually we first eat cake, where you blow out the candles and make a wish. But we’re still waiting for some people, so maybe you can start with opening your presents?”

Silver eyed the large pile of presents that lay neatly stacked in the middle of the table. There was a wide variation of colours and sizes between the gifts, and Silver had no idea which one he would take first. His mind was still reeling. “Uh… which one should I open first?” he asked Sonic.

“Mine! Open mine!” Charmy hollered from where he was buzzing rapidly above Vector’s head. “You can’t just demand that! Let Silver decide for himself!” the crocodile scolded his charge as he reached out to grab him out of the air, but Silver laughed at his friends’ antics. “I’ll open yours right now,” he assured the bee, glad that for now the decision was taken out of his hands. “Which one is it?”

“This one!” With a divebomb Charmy avoided Vectors attempt to snatch him and flung himself at the table, grabbing a thin present with, fittingly, yellow-and-black striped insects on the wrapping. It had been on the bottom and the whole pile was brought into disarray by the enthusiastic action, but Silver quickly stabilised it with his powers before accepting the bee’s gift. Neatly pulling away the tape (judging by how well it was wrapped he was quite sure Charmy wasn’t the one who had packaged it), he gasped as he unwrapped it fully. Inside where a collection of crayons and coloured pencils, with a large notebook underneath. Its cover boasted it contained 100 pages of paper. “Wow!”

“Sonic said you liked drawing!” Charmy told him proudly. Silver laughed at the smug exclamation. “I really do! Thank you, Charmy,” he assured the bee, who whooped and dove against Silver in a hug. Ruffling him carefully over his antennae, Silver hugged back before letting him go and placing the gift a bit wayward on the table. He glanced at the pile. Where those really _all_ for him?

At his hesitation his friends had to laugh. “Just pick one,” Tails told him, “we’ll tell you whose gift it is.” Running his eyes over the colourful collection, Silver reached out and grasped a thicker one wrapped in fancy, dark purple paper. From the paper alone he already had an idea from who that could be. “That one is mine,” Blaze told him as she stepped closer, as he had expected. Carefully undoing it as well, surprised by how heavy it was, he turned around the large book he held in his hands. On the front it showed him beautiful pictures of plants, some hand-drawn. “I know you like caring for plants, so I figured I’d give you a book on botany and plant care,” Blaze told him. She looked away shyly… was she afraid he would reject her gift? He beamed brightly at her, setting down the book carefully on the table to wrap her in a hug as well. “I love it, Blaze. Thank you so much.”

Blaze didn’t respond verbally, but he could feel her smile against his shoulder as she placed her hands on his back. Letting go of her, Blaze nodding and gracefully making her way back to where she had been standing before, he looked over the table again. A package that was covered with pictures of Chao caught his attention, and he laughed as he picked it up.

“Mama and Chocola couldn’t make it, but they send their birthday wishes as well,” Cream’s soft voice piped up next to him. Crouching down so they were on the same eyelevel, Silver pulled a thick, red scarf from the gift. With the help from Cream he wrapped it around his neck immediately. “It’s so soft!” he told her enthusiastically.

“Cheese and I helped pick the colour, and Mama knitted it herself,” Cream told him as she helped put it in place. “You look good, Mr. Silver!” Giving her a hug as he had done with Blaze and Charmy, reaching out to ruffle Cheese over his tiny head, Silver made sure to tell Cream to give Vanilla and Chocola his thanks too. As Cream skipped back to where she had been standing next to Blaze, he turned his attention to the table once more. The scarf turned out to be too hot, so he unfortunately had to take it off again and put it with the other presents. It seemed the pile had barely been diminished so far.

The next gift he choose was wrapped in blue paper that contained red airplanes. “You’ll like this one,” Sonic assured him as he zipped closer and leaned against the table. Rolling his eyes at the speedster’s confidence he tore the tape away. He had to look at the box a few times before he realised what exactly the gift was, but once he saw he gasped as his tail wagged. Quickly opening the box, he pulled out the fancy silver camera that it contained. “You can use it to take pictures of us, or scenery… That way you’ll remember all the magical moments,” Sonic told him. Surprised at how well-thought-out the gift was, Silver slipped it firmly inside the box again and carefully placed it down before Sonic moved in to give him a hug. “Happy birthday, Silv. You deserve this,” his friend murmured as he squeezed his shoulders.

The pile got smaller the more presents he opened. From Amy he got a cookbook and a baking set, alongside the promise that they’d get together and cook something up soon, from Tails he got a modified personal Miles Electric, and from Espio and Vector he got a book on martial arts. With a wink Espio handed him a shiny shuriken and two kunai when Vector’s back was turned, wrapped in a thick cloth so no-one would injure themselves. Winking back, Silver quickly hid it underneath the other presents before Vector could turn around. He could come up with some reasons why Espio was acting so secretive. Knuckles couldn’t give him a physical present, citing as reason that he didn’t actually own any money, but offered to let him come up on Angel Island on occasion so they could go treasure hunt and study nature together. With every present Silver gave his respective friend a tight hug, still feeling somewhat unreal that this was happening in the first place.

With the present pile empty and everything unwrapped Amy pulled out the cupcakes and chili dogs. Silver marvelled at the elaborate decorations on the desserts, multiple colours of frosting and shiny silver pearls on top made them very pleasing to the eye. Deciding to leave the chili dogs alone for now (they did not seem to make good breakfast food, though another hedgehog heavily protested his choice when he brought it up), he munched on a few cupcakes. They were delicious, he decided.

Amy glanced worriedly at the door as she ate her own. “They should have been here by now… what’s taking them?” she sighed. Before Silver could ask who she was talking about, the door smashed open. The chatter in the room came to a grinding halt as Omega marched his way in, following by a grinning Rouge and an indifferent-looking Shadow.

“THIS IS AN OBLIGATORY MOMENT OF CELEBRATING THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE AGED,” Omega spoke as he stood in front of Silver, his voice echoing through the now-quiet room. The psychic laughed. “Thank you, Omega. I really appreciate it.”

“APPRECIATION IS NOT NECESSARY. I HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED BY ROUGE TO SHOW YOU ‘GOODWILL’ AND TO BE ‘FESTIVE’. TO FURTHER ENHANCE YOUR CELEBRATORY MOOD I HAVE A PRESENT I WAS ORDERED TO OFFER TO YOU. YOU ARE INVITED TO COME SPAR WITH ME WHEN YOU SEE FIT, IF YOU DARE. I WOULD ADVISE AGAINST IT; YOU WILL FALL, AND BE DESTROYED. I AM THE ULTIMATE, NO-ONE CAN BEAT ME.”

Peeking past Omega at Rouge and Shadow, the former looking a bit more concerned and the latter wearing a smirk now, Silver had to smirk himself at the robot’s confident exclamation. “We’ll see about that! I’ll take you on anytime!” he told Omega as he jumped in a fighting pose.

“Not now, boys,” Rouge scolded gently as she flew in front of Omega. “You wouldn’t want to destroy this elaborate birthday set-up with your antics, now would you?” Leaning towards Silver she pecked him on his cheek, the odd gesture making him giggle. “Happy birthday, hun. Hope you like this.” She grasped his hand and placed a soft, velvet bag in it. Undoing the ribbon with which it was fastened, Silver gasped as he pulled out an elaborate yellow gemstone, rivalling the Chaos Emeralds in size. This one was cut more rectangular, though.

“It’s a citrine, the November birthstone,” Rouge explained as he marvelled at how beautiful it was, turning it around in his hands to look at its reflection from every angle. “I deemed it quite fitting for your birthday, and it goes well with your eyes too, if I do say so myself.” She gave him a wink.

“Thank you, Rouge!” He beamed as he pulled her into a hug as well, Rouge laughing with surprise as she returned the gesture. He swore he could hear Tails mumble something about how there had been a heist on a jewellery store a few days ago, but maybe that was merely his imagination.

Letting go of Rouge, the bat quickly swiping a cupcake from the table before flying up and resting on Omega’s shoulder, Silver turned towards Shadow. The black hedgehog was also carrying something, he could see. Based on the size and shape he suspected that this was a book as well.

“Happy birthday,” the Ultimate Lifeform gruffly muttered as he pushed the gift in Silver’s hands. Shyly muttering a thanks (Shadow always intimidated him a little), Silver carefully unwrapped his last gift for the day. When he finished taking away the paper his mouth fell open. It was indeed a book, as he had suspected, but this one was about astronomy. The book’s front was covered with constellations which shimmered just like the stars in the night sky did. Quickly opening it, Silver gaped at the gorgeous pictures of stars and planets his eyes fell on. “Oh, wow! How did you find this?!”

Shadow merely shrugged at that. “Everyone likes stars,” he grumbled before his body went rigid, Silver wrapping his arms around him firmly. “Thank you, Shadow,” he murmured. Shadow stood entirely frozen for a few seconds before he very carefully placed a hand on Silver’s head. “…You’re welcome,” he responded. The time traveler's ears flicked at the chorus of _awww_ ’s that resounded behind him, and he could see from the corner of his eye Shadow was looking quite murderous all of a sudden. But even Silver noticed Shadow gave him another small pat on his head when he let go.

“Now that everyone’s here, you can blow out your candles!” Amy told him as Sonic rushed out of the door. He was back in seconds, holding an absolutely massive cake on a platter. Silver was amazed at the sight. It was coloured silver, almost exactly the shade of his fur. Chocolate was placed all over it, as were rainbow-coloured sprinkles. The same teal-coloured marks that adorned his hands were present on the cake, all around its middle. There was one extra-large mark on the cake’s top, with a multitude of candles pricked in it. “Fourteen candles for the birthday boy!” Sonic sung as Blaze used her powers to light them.

“Wait, no! You’ll burn it!” Silver called out worriedly as he watched Blaze work with her flames. “Not if you blow them out quickly enough,” his friend chuckled as she assured him. “They’ll burn for a long time with no adverse effects, so you have enough time to come up with a wish.” Musing a little, she added: “It is said that a wish made on a birthday always comes true. Don’t feel pressured to tell us what you wish for, but make sure to put enough thought into it. It needs to be something you truly desire.”

Ah yes, Sonic had said that before. For some reason, he had to make a wish now, and apparently blow out the candles afterwards. Frowning, Silver tried to think of something while ignoring the expecting stares his friends all gave him. What was it that he truly desired? The easiest wish would be for his future to be safe now and forever, and he considered going for that. But he could feel his heart wasn’t into it in the slightest. He could not rely on a birthday cake and the fickle rules applied to it to save the future for him, he had to work for that himself. Maybe strength was a good wish? But he was already plenty strong, and the same argument could be applied here too. It was something that came from inside of him, something he needed to work for.

Silver’s frown intensified as he concentrated more. He had no idea it would be _this_ tough to come up with something. Bravery, improved skills, kindness, none of them felt right. They were all virtues he either already possessed or had to put effort in to develop them. Maybe… he shouldn’t wish something for himself? Maybe it was better if he wished for someone else?

Taking a while to formulate his exact wish in his head, Silver decided he would wish happiness for the people of this world. They deserved nothing less, with everything they had been through. Nodding firmly, he took a deep breath and blew out all the candles in one fell swoop, his friends whooping and celebrating as he did. “Let’s eat!” Amy cheered as she cut the cake, giving everyone a slice and Silver the biggest one. Munching on the delicious chocolate filling, Silver smiled.

\----

Silver snuggled in his scarf as he leaned against the tree he was sitting under, exhausted but more satisfied than he had even been. They had spent the whole day celebrating, playing games and eating food, and taking pictures of the festivities with Silver’s new camera. With the night creeping closer most guests had left already: Cream had been picked up by Vanilla, Blaze had returned to her own dimension with a final hug between them, and Team Dark had stuck around longer than everyone had expected them to but also had to go due to ‘complaints from management’, according to Rouge. Knuckles had left not soon after, realising that the Master Emerald was very much at risk from bat thieves, and the Chaotix went home soon after clean-up was done.

After cleaning was finished Tails had been swaying on his feet, a stark reminded of how much younger he was compared to them. Sonic had picked him up to put him to bed, and Silver had told Amy he wanted to take a breather outside before going to sleep himself. Being around so many people for so long was quite overwhelming. Despite that, he couldn’t get the huge smile off his face that had been there for the largest part of the day. The kindness of his friends made him feel loved to his core.

Some rustling sounded behind him and he twitched his ears as he recognised Sonic’s footsteps. “Hey,” the Blue Blur greeted him as he plopped down under the tree as well, lazily staring up at the night sky. Silver chirped back a greeting of his own, too exhausted to really think. They settled in silence, both smiling. Silver had long learned that Sonic usually did these kinds of things if he wanted to chat or ask a question, so he waited patiently for his friend to start speaking.

“Sleepy?” Sonic asked with a grin as he looked at Silver and his half-lidden eyes. The psychic nodded as he unexpectedly yawned, sending Sonic an amused glare when he laughed. “That just happened ‘cuz you asked about it,” he murmured sleepily.

“I’m sure,” Sonic responded with a chuckle as he leaned closer and ruffled Silver’s quills. “I know you’re tired, but may I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Did you have a good birthday, Silv?

Smiling, Silver settled more comfortably against Sonic’s shoulder. He would fall asleep soon, and Sonic would carry him inside and tuck him in, and tomorrow would be all the brighter for it. For Sonic’s question he only had a single answer, the verity of which he felt in the core of his entire being.

“Yes,” he responded contently as he leaned into his thoughtful friend, his heart light with joy.

**Author's Note:**

> Today is November 14th, which is when Sonic ’06 was released in North America! This means it’s SILVER’S BIRTHDAY!!! Happy birthday, Silver! Coincidentally this is also his 14th birthday, which is especially fitting because the character is 14 years old! 
> 
> I wrote him a birthday fic in celebration, which turned out WAY longer than I anticipated! There’s a lot of world-building in this one, methinks. Silvy, who has grown up in A Destroyed Future, probably has no idea about time and dates and celebrations, which I wanted to dive into here. Luckily he has the sweetest friends to set up a surprise for him!
> 
> Not pictured: the massive argument Espio and Vector had about giving a 14-year-old ninja murder weapons. Also, Omega is written as 50% Game Grumps!Fi from Skyward Sword and 50% Snapcube!Omega. Also half of his friends give Silver books. I legitimately have no idea what else they could have given him lol, he seems like the kind of character that would love to read once he learns how to. As someone who used to read a lot when younger I can assure you that this is still abused immensely by despairing family members who have no idea what to give me otherwise. I tried to look into subjects he would be interested in (plants, the sky, baking, etc.), and have that reflected in each character’s gift for him. Also when I was looking up yellow gemstones and found out that citrine is apparently the one for November I galaxy brained, ngl. It was a good moment! 
> 
> Here’s to another year of Silver! And next year we have his sweet 15th, an anniversary date always widely celebrated in the Sonic Fandom! Not gonna lie, I REALLY hope that they’ll plan out a solo game for him to star in. But that’s just a dream of mine, and it unfortunately does seem very unlikely… but you can always dream, or make a birthday wish about it! That’s all from me, everyone! Have a great day!


End file.
